Maiden Resource

RNS Number : 6420H

African Mining & Exploration PLC

24 June 2013

 

African Mining & Exploration Plc ('AME' or 'the Company')

Maiden Resource Confirmed at Gourbassi East Target of the Kossanto Project in Mali

African Mining & Exploration plc, the AIM listed gold exploration and development Company, is pleased to announce a maiden JORC Inferred Resource of 107k oz at a cut off grade of 0.5 g/t Au at the Gourbassi East target within the Kossanto Gold Project ('Kossanto' or 'the Project'), located in the prolific Kenieba Inlier in western Mali.

Highlights:

·    Maiden JORC Inferred Resource identified following 2,246 metres / 28 holes reverse circulation ('RC') resource definition drilling programme, announced in February this year, which reported main mineralised intercepts located less than 100m below surface with best intercepts including:

o 75m @ 2.04 g/t Au

o 46m @ 2.16 g/t Au

o 17m @ 3.86 g/t Au

o 11m @ 6.16 g/t Au

·    Resource calculation based on part of the 500m section that was drilled within the 900m mineralised strike length which remains open at both ends, along strike and down dip

·    Planning of a potential infill and extension drilling programme is underway aimed to increase the resource with drilling along strike and down dip

Following on from the December 2012 RC drilling programme which identified a series of mineralised intercepts, the Company contracted Wardell Armstrong International to produce a resource estimate. The conclusion of their review was that, based on the exploration work done to date, there is an Inferred Resource of 2.35 million tonnes at a grade of 1.42 g/t, giving 107k oz Au at a cut of grade of 0.5 g/t Au. The resource is calculated using mineralised intercepts from the central part, which was the most intensively drilled part, of the 500m section of the drilling at Gourbassi East. Additional drilling will be required to include the remaining part of the block into a potentially enlarged Mineral Resource.

A summary of the Mineral Resource, produced in accordance with the guidelines of the JORC code (2004) and based on a selective mining unit of 2.5m x 5m x 5m, is shown in the table below.

Gourbassi East - JORC Inferred Mineral Resource
Cut Off Grade Au (g/t)		0.3	0.5	0.7
Tonnes (kt)		3,248	2,350	1,823
Au (g/t)		1.14	1.42	1.66
Metal	kg	3,694	3,338	3,025
	koz	119	107	97

Notes: Grade represents estimated contained metal in the ground and has not been adjusted for metallurgical recovery.

AME CEO, Mark Jones said: "This near surface, maiden Inferred Resource affirms our confidence in the prospectivity of the Kossanto Project and is a significant milestone in the Company's development. Having a JORC Inferred Resource of over 100k oz at surface from just over 2,000m of drilling is a testament to the resource potential at Gourbassi East and of the potential for it to increase with more drilling."

Exploration Activity

The technical team have been conducting a variety of exploration techniques, including RAB drilling, trenching, pitting, mapping and geophysics to identify the drill target locations for a subsequent sub-contractor drilling programme. The programme being developed will: seek to build on data from the recent drilling campaign which showed that 20% of the recently drilled holes ended in mineralised halos; include infill drilling, within the 500m section containing the resource, with the aim of proving up the size of the resource in that section; and aim to generate an increase in size of the overall mineralised structure by finding extensions to mineralisation along strike length, width and down dip. It may also include some diamond core drilling in order to improve the information quality and facilitate first pass metallurgical work in order to ascertain whether the gold is free milling. A drilling programme over Gourbassi East could not start until after the end of the forthcoming rainy season in the last calendar quarter of 2013.

Competent Person

Rasmane Kabore: The technical information related to Exploration Results contained in this Announcement has been reviewed and approved by Mr R. Kabore. Mr Kabore has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity to which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr Kabore is a full time employee of African Mining & Exploration Plc and Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Kabore consents to the inclusion in this Announcement of such information in the form and context in which it appears.

**Ends**

For further information please visit www.ameplc.co.uk or contact:

Mark Jones	African Mining & Exploration plc	Tel: [phone]
James Maxwell / Jenny Wyllie	N+1 Singer	Tel: [phone]

 

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